Superyacht Captain Busted at Airport After $20M Cocaine Haul Discovered Floating Close to Lifeless Diver

A veteran superyacht captain and scuba diver whose excursions have been touted by his firm as “past legendary” has been arrested after 110 kilos of cocaine bricks have been discovered close to the washed-up physique of a diver, based on Australian authorities.

James “Jimmy” Blee was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon at Cairns Airport, the place he’d tried to board a airplane that will have taken him from Queensland to Singapore, police mentioned. The 62-year-old Australian citizen was charged with two drug importation offenses, based on The Guardian.

Whereas New South Wales authorities sought Blee’s extradition to their state on Thursday, investigators have been working to find out how a bootleg drug provide price greater than $20 million had ended up within the waters of the port of Newcastle on Monday.

The haul was found shortly after an unconscious man was discovered on a riverbank close by, carrying refined diving gear designed to cover floor traces of underwater exercise. The person, whom authorities haven’t recognized, died on the scene. He was believed to have been South American.

South Wales detective Robert Critchlow informed reporters it appeared the person had been “left to die” on the scene by at the very least one different confederate, Australia’s ABC Information reported.

“Folks don’t scuba dive alone,” Critchlow added, based on The Australian. “It’s one thing of concern that there’s evidently extra individuals concerned than the useless man.”

It was not instantly clear if authorities believed Blee had been current on the Newcastle port this week.

The 62-year-old is a “maritime skilled and devoted marine conservationist with greater than 30 years expertise with luxurious yachting all through South East Asia,” based on an internet site for North Queensland Superyacht Marine & Excursions, an organization he co-founded after returning to Australia two years in the past. Previous to 2020, Blee had lived and labored for many years in Indonesia, based on his LinkedIn profile, the place he consulted on and chartered luxurious yacht journeys and “expedition-style cruises.”

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“Along with his 25 years of expertise and contacts in Asia, Jimmy has a community that spreads far and smart all through the area,” his biography reported.

The captain’s expertise at navigating south-east Asian waters have been “past legendary,” he boasted on his LinkedIn, leaving him in “nice demand” as a information. Additionally a “eager diver” in his personal estimation, Blee’s biography mentioned that he had accrued greater than 3,000 dives, most of them “within the waters of jap Indonesia.”

The pandemic apparently scuttled his marine enterprise pursuits in Indonesia, although Blee appeared optimistic concerning the future. “As soon as post-COVID actually does begin to kick in, I am fairly certain we will see some adventures,” he mentioned on a Could 2021 podcast episode of SuperYacht Radio, based on the Every day Mail. “Fairly thrilling instances for everybody.”

Remaining docked close to the scene on Thursday was a South American cargo ship, which police mentioned had originated from Argentina, hauling a cargo of soybean powder into Newcastle on Sunday night. Authorities have mentioned they imagine the large drug cargo had been strapped to and stashed contained in the ship, which is registered to the Marshall Islands because the Areti GR Majuro.

Port officers had noticed a small rubber dinghy and a 5-meter aluminum speedboat floating close to the ship that evening, Critchlow mentioned. Solely a “portion” of the haul is believed to have ended up within the water, ABC Information reported, with greater than 400 kilos of cocaine believed to be unaccounted for.

“It’s a high-end, refined operation,” the detective alleged.

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